原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
侍奉香火 The Incense Keeper Wakes
長老高聲讚嘆，不覺的驚動寺裡之人。那裡邊有一個侍奉香火的道人，他聽見人語，扒起來，拾一塊斷磚，照鐘上打將去，那鐘噹的響了一聲。长老高声赞叹，不觉的惊动寺里之人。那里边有一个侍奉香火的道人，他听见人语，扒起来，拾一块断砖，照钟上打将去，那钟当的响了一声。
逐句解 Line by line
長老高聲讚嘆，不覺的驚動寺裡之人。
长老高声赞叹，不觉的惊动寺里之人。
The elder had been praising the bell aloud, and without meaning to he had roused somebody inside the monastery.
不覺的 — without noticing. He was talking to a bell in an empty courtyard and had entirely forgotten he might be overheard.
那裡邊有一個侍奉香火的道人，他聽見人語，扒起來，拾一塊斷磚，照鐘上打將去，那鐘噹的響了一聲。
那里边有一个侍奉香火的道人，他听见人语，扒起来，拾一块断砖，照钟上打将去，那钟当的响了一声。
Inside there was a Daoist attendant who kept the incense. Hearing a human voice, he scrambled up, picked up a piece of broken brick, and flung it at the bell — and the bell went off with a clang.
This 那裡 is the plain pointing one, 那 as nà: in there. A 道人 in a Buddhist monastery is not a Daoist priest but a lay servant who tends the lamps and the incense — the establishment's caretaker.
The comedy is set up with real care. A man alone at dusk has just delivered a tender speech to a piece of bronze about how it has lost its voice, and the bronze answers him.
The caretaker's reasoning will be explained shortly and it is entirely sensible. For the moment all the reader gets is the noise, and all Tripitaka gets is a bell that has apparently decided to speak.